Cardinal al-Rai calls for dialogue to solve crisis in Syria

Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros al-Rai , Maronite Patriarch Antioch and All East, called for finding a solution to the crisis in Syria through dialogue. In an interview with RT TV channel on Friday, al-Rai said reforms should come from inside and the Syrians ''have to come to dialogue to run their own affairs and reach solutions.'' Al-Rai urged Lebanon to be a ''factor of stability, not tension, in Syria,'' adding that ''We should not fan the flames of war but raise our voices for peace, accord and stability.'' ''The Lebanese had a taste of the evils of war and realized its futility,'' he added. Al-Rai valued Russia's stances on the crisis in Syria which he described as ''wise'', indicating that ''The Russian policy is clear and does not side with one party over the other…Russia calls for dialogue, because war and violence get us nowhere.'' Answering a question on the concerns over the fate Christians in the East, al-Rai said that ''War and economic crisis threaten all, and we need stability, peace and dignified life, Muslims and Christians alike.'' ''More dangerous still is that some Arab and Western countries are providing fundamentalists with money and weapons, '' al-Rai said, adding ''And they speak of an 'Arab Spring'…Very worrisome, indeed.''